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For me, the transition to a full body workout has been revolutionary. Glwanabe has gone into depth about fullbody work v’s split and why fantastic gains can be made with this style of training, but perhaps you still aren’t convinced, perhaps you are still thinking that the volume isn’t high enough, let me take the Reeves Classic as an example of the kind of volume you can expect on a fullbody routine. As this is most peoples concern with them... ‘They don’t hit the muscles hard enough’

Just 3 sets per body part......

Well lets take a look at that.

Legs
Legs get hit pretty hard with the back squats... 3 sets per day on the Quads, Glute’s and (providing you are going deep) Hams, 3 times per week that’s 9 sets for each of the above body parts, not forgetting we are hitting the calves for 3 sets, 3 times per week. 9 sets in total for the calves (you will never have chicken legs again) 36 sets typical bodypart split equivalent for legs.

Back
Gets hit with 3 sets twice a week and then 3 sets of dead’s once a week), again that’s 9 sets for the back, plus pull-ups can be added to two of the days with the Rows giving you 13 sets for the back... not forgetting the deadlift’s hit almost every muscle in the body (especially the traps, so that’s 3 sets for the traps too).

Shoulders
Again 3 sets 3 times per week, that 9 sets directly hitting the shoulders (BTNP or dumbbells as far back as is comfortable) are recommended as they hit the whole of the shoulder, where as a standard Barbell military press primarily places the stress on the Anterior delt. They also get hit hard with the Bench pressing for a further 9 sets and with the dips for a further 15 sets per week. That’s 33 sets either directly or indirectly hitting the delts. Didn’t you always say you wanted coconut shoulders

Chest
Standard 3 sets per day Bench press here, gives 9 sets again for the chest, but we also do 5 sets per day of dips which hit the chest nicely (as long as you are leaning in to the movement), that’s a further 15 sets. A total of 24 sets for the chest !!!

Arms
Hah the all important ‘gunz’. Biceps get hit directly for 3 sets per day, thats 9 sets for the Bi’s but again indirectly for another 13 sets with the Back. A total of 22 set’s for the bi’s. Triceps get hit for 5 sets per day with the dips that 15 sets per week, plus assisting with the chest and shoulder presses too, thats another 18 sets. So a total of 33 set’s for the tri’s, directly and indirectly. That’s 55 sets for the arms.

Abs
The 6 pack most people want is just a diet and a fullbody routine away. Not only are the abs getting hit for 9 sets directly, but because most of the movements are the big compound movements then the core is getting a hammering as well with over 50 sets altogether.

If you want to really work your body as a UNIT, hit all the muscles with enough sets to make them grow, but not have to worry about this part this day and the days work overlapping with the next. Stressing if you miss a day as you done know when you can fit it in again, without messing up your entire schedule. Then I vote for full body.

This site has a whole sub-forum dedicated to the fullbody workout, now I can see why

would like to hear everyone else's thoughts on this too and if they think the amount of volume is actually one of the reasons they ARE so effective and not necessarily the apparant lack of volume that makes them so effective...

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Another point I like is that you do not have to do endless isolation exercises in order to hit "every" part of your body. Many days I do not have to do anything for biceps or triceps as they are already fried from the compound work I have done.

Another point I like is that you do not have to do endless isolation exercises in order to hit "every" part of your body. Many days I do not have to do anything for biceps or triceps as they are already fried from the compound work I have done.

Woohoo, post 400.

Thats a great point.. triceps for instance have no real direct work (I see dips as a chest exercise) yet still get hit with over 30 sets during the weeks session.... Tel me that wont make them grow

I've long thought that though there are more sets per body part on a split, even though there are generally 3 sets with the fullbody the weight lifted by each muscle group is relative to its size and strength and that's the simplicity of the fullbody; so, you'll still lift more in terms of load, for a bigger muscle group...and the beauty of it is that you can still walk the day after so cardio does not get negatively affected either.

I switched to FB, and did them for about 5 months. Made great gains. Currently doing a more traditional split, but can see going back to FB at some point.

The volume (or what looks like a lack of..) does throw some folks off, until they do three days a week of FB. The volume (if set up correctly in the beginning) is more than enough in most cases to promote growth, if the diet is right and the intensity is there.

I really push myself when I train. Sometimes I'll have days where I can only do a few sets, and other days I'm so ****ing psyched that I can bust out 5 more just because I have the determination to go on. Plus I like to lift heavy.

So I try to get in a lot of volume on my full-body routine. As much as I can each day; with reps mostly in the 1-5 range to get in the heaviest weights I can. I aim for 30 total reps per exercise on a good day.

This is a common scenario, when somebody finally, really works into a fullbody. When you wade into a fullbody as opposed to jumping in, you have time to catch your breath, and swim, instead of sinking. You can easily go into a split full bore, but you cannot jump into fullbody that way.

Glwanabe has gone into depth about fullbody work v’s split and why fantastic gains can be made with this style of training, but perhaps you still aren’t convinced, perhaps you are still thinking that the volume isn’t high enough.
let me take the Reeves Classic as an example of the kind of volume you can expect on a fullbody routine.

Legs
Legs get hit pretty hard with the back squats... 3 sets per day on the Quads, Glute’s and (providing you are going deep) Hams, 3 times per week that’s 9 sets for each of the above body parts, not forgetting we are hitting the calves for 3 sets, 3 times per week. 9 sets in total for the calves (you will never have chicken legs again) 36 sets typical bodypart split equivalent for legs.

Back
Gets hit with 3 sets twice a week and then 3 sets of dead’s once a week), again that’s 9 sets for the back, plus pull-ups can be added to two of the days with the Rows giving you 13 sets for the back... not forgetting the deadlift’s hit almost every muscle in the body (especially the traps, so that’s 3 sets for the traps too).

Shoulders
Again 3 sets 3 times per week, that 9 sets directly hitting the shoulders (BTNP or dumbbells as far back as is comfortable) are recommended as they hit the whole of the shoulder, where as a standard Barbell military press primarily places the stress on the Anterior delt. They also get hit hard with the Bench pressing for a further 9 sets and with the dips for a further 15 sets per week. That’s 33 sets either directly or indirectly hitting the delts. Didn’t you always say you wanted coconut shoulders

Chest
Standard 3 sets per day Bench press here, gives 9 sets again for the chest, but we also do 5 sets per day of dips which hit the chest nicely (as long as you are leaning in to the movement), that’s a further 15 sets. A total of 24 sets for the chest !!!

Arms
Hah the all important ‘gunz’. Biceps get hit directly for 3 sets per day, thats 9 sets for the Bi’s but again indirectly for another 13 sets with the Back. A total of 22 set’s for the bi’s. Triceps get hit for 5 sets per day with the dips that 15 sets per week, plus assisting with the chest and shoulder presses too, thats another 18 sets. So a total of 33 set’s for the tri’s, directly and indirectly. That’s 55 sets for the arms.

Abs
The 6 pack most people want is just a diet and a fullbody routine away. Not only are the abs getting hit for 9 sets directly, but because most of the movements are the big compound movements then the core is getting a hammering as well with over 50 sets altogether.

If you want to really work your body as a UNIT, hit all the muscles with enough sets to make them grow, but not have to worry about this part this day and the days work overlapping with the next. Stressing if you miss a day as you done know when you can fit it in again, without messing up your entire schedule. Then I vote for full body.

This site has a whole sub-forum dedicated to the fullbody workout, now I can see why

would like to hear everyone else's thoughts on this too and if they think the amount of volume is actually one of the reasons they ARE so effective and not necessarily the apparant lack of volume that makes them so effective...

Carl.

Great writeup Carl.

Another thing to think about. This is a basic fullbody program. There are only 7 moves in the entire routine. The intermediate version of this routine takes it to a whole other level, and when I wrote the intermediate, I still made it simpler than the original Reeves program.

I've not had any complaints about there being to little work during the week with this program, or any of the other classic programs. A recurring issue is people wanting to throwup during the program from gasping for air, myself included.

Proper work sequence is important with this program as well. Start moving things around, and it changes how the pieces fit together. Some of the moves can be rearranged but that needs to done for well thought out reasons.

The amount of arm work in the program. A common issue I read all the time is that of people saying, "I can't work my arms after back, they are too tired."

Weight is relative. So what if your arms are tired, or pre exhaused. That just means you only need to finish them off, rather than spending a whole other day on them. Triceps are hit plenty in this program, so no other direct hit is really needed at this point.

Paying attention to progression and honestly working the program will give you results. To the people who say fullbody is fine for beginners, I would challenge them to commit to a 4 month cycle of honest effort, and see what they could achieve.